Waltemade doubles Newcastle’s lead with Gordon’s ‘great’ cross
Video credit: TNT Sports
He took the lead within four minutes and volleyed home Anthony Gordon’s cross to cut Newcastle United’s lead to two points midway through the first half.
It then took more than three minutes for the goal to be scored as VAR checked whether the striker was in an offside position when the cross went in.
It was later confirmed that the semi-automatic technology was down at the finish line, prompting a manual check by VAR.
“Due to a technical issue, semi-automatic offside technique (SAOT) was not available during the VAR check. VAR had to build the line manually.”
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“From villain to hero” – Walte Maid pushes Newcastle aside to take early lead
Video credit: TNT Sports
The game was so incredibly close that there was a gap of 3 minutes and 20 seconds between the ball hitting the back of the net and the referee pointing to the center circle.
Ally McCoist commented on the incident on TNT Sports, saying: “In such tense situations you concede goals.”
Peter Crouch analyzed what happened at half-time and said: “If you’re waiting that long to draw a line or find a comb of teeth, just give them a goal.
“That’s what we all want to see. It’s a little frustrating, but common sense prevailed and it was the right decision.”
Woltemade, who joined from Stuttgart in the summer, took his tally to seven Premier League goals this season, with two in the first half.
McCoist said the striker was a “really likeable big man and the fans definitely like him.”
Semi-automatic offside technology was introduced in English football in February last year and was first used in the FA Cup fifth round.
The technology was then introduced to the Premier League in April and was used for the first time in elite-level football at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
It is designed to make tough offside decisions easier for referees by automating key parts of the process.
The Premier League announced in April that this would “improve the speed, efficiency and consistency of offside decision-making”.
